In the middle of spring semester 2011, two Purchase students planted the first seeds of what would grow to become a four-piece band. By 2012, after uncountable hours in rehearsal rooms and continuous adding of new band members, Citrus was formed. Today, Citrus is a rock-act determinedly spreading their melodic grunge-rock around the Purchase campus. With an impending record release and two recent shows at the Stood, Citrus is looking towards the future.
Angelina Torreano, a junior Studio Composition major and the rhythm-guitar-playing lead singer of Citrus, is the band’s driving force. She is exclusively responsible for the band’s lyric writing and song composing, and has been writing songs since her mid-teens.
“I had previously never heard a 15-year old with such an intellectual approach to writing combined with such a powerful voice,” said DJ Mclachlan, Citrus’s manager and head of the Agency for the Performing Arts (APA) for 21 years.
“I think that Angelina, hands down, is the best songwriter I know of right now,” said Declan Sleeper, a junior graphic design major and the drummer of purchase-based band Sonic Blue. “She has such a unique way of phrasing her lines.”
As the cornerstone in Citrus’s writing process, Angelina concludes that her three absolute biggest influences are Kurt Cobain, John Lennon and Elliot Smith. “All the good ones are dead,” she said with a mysterious glance. “That’s unfortunately how it works.”
Citrus plays music rooted in something they define as independent-grunge rock (not to be mistaken with Indie-rock).
“It feels peculiar to call them grungy but that is exactly what they are,” said Declan Sleeper. “They’re a band of jazz-musicians playing really well-composed grunge.”
Angelina has a past permeated by participation in different bands.
“I even used to play together with my ex-boyfriend for a while,” she said, trying to hold a nostalgic smile back. “But that didn’t work out for obvious reasons.”
It was after going to Purchase and meeting Alex Cote, a junior Jazz Performance major and the drummer of Citrus, that she started to foresee a promising future.
“She lived on the same floor as me and eventually we started to hang out and exchange our songs,” Alex said about their first introduction to each other.
After consistently jamming together they quickly realized that a bassist was essential for the further progression of the band.
“When I transferred to Purchase from Rochester I was conveniently enough imported into a band,” said Alex’s friend Jake Smisloff, a junior Photography major and the bassist of Citrus, to the resounding laughter of his band mates.
For a period of time Citrus remained a three-piece and felt content with the musical direction in which they were heading. But soon, they added their last member: Chris Krasnow, a junior Trombone major at Purchase.
“I got introduced to the band by talking to Angelina at a party,” Chris said “A very drunken party.”
Shortly after, Chris completed the band’s lineup by taking on the role as lead guitarist.
The band was complete, and they started performing on campus. Recently, they played a show in Fordham.
“I really enjoyed the [Fordham] show,” said Hillary Maltz, a senior Media, Society and the Arts major. “Especially how the stage was set up with absolutely no barrier between the band and the audience.”
While reminiscing about the Fordham show, Citrus establishes that it was certainly one of the best shows in their career. Every aspect of it was perfect, except for one minor incident that happened to Angelina’s right hand.
“That was a really good show,” Chris giggles. “Gina bled everywhere.” As laughter fills the room Jake asserts. “We can’t play sets longer than 45 minutes. Because if we do she might bleed out.” After a new fusillade of laughter Angelina interrupts. “I finger pick a lot and frankly, I don’t really mind bleeding a little bit.”
“We started working on the record during finals week of spring semester last year,” Angelina said about their approaching album-release. “It was pretty chaotic but somehow we managed to get all the eight songs done.”
The release process is not entirely mapped out yet but they will receive great help from their manager.
“Music is something so vastly important for the members of Citrus,” says DJ Mclachlan. “They are truly dedicated to what they do and they have our full support for that.”
With their impending record release and a close relationship to DJ Mclachlan, Citrus determine their future as very promising. Wrapping up the interview, Angelina indicates that the record release will absolutely not be plagued by stress.
“We are going to take necessary time to prioritize and perfect it until the right moment comes,” she said.